For the very first time...PM Modi speaks on Manipur violence

Breaking his 77-day silence on the Manipur violence, after numerous appeals, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, July 20, condemned the viral video of women being paraded naked in the North Eastern state.

It has shamed 140 crore Indians, ahead of the Parliament's Monsoon Session, asserting that law will act with its full might and no guilty will be spared.

Amid massived criticism by opposition parties for not speaking on the ethnic violence so far, Modi told reporters: "My heart is full of pain and anger."

The PM requested all chief ministers to further strengthen law and order mechanisms in their respective states, especially to protect women and to take the most stringent action.

He also mentioned states like Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh while calling for boosting law and order, and protecting women.

"I want to assure the countrymen that no guilty will be spared. What has happened to these daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven," he said.

Moreover, Modi also asked parliamentarians to make full use of the session for extensive discussion on a host of bills which, he added, are in people's interest.

The video was doing the rounds on the eve of a planned protest march announced by the ITLF on Thursday, July 20, to highlight their plight. The Kuki-Zo tribals are planning to raise this issue during the proposed protest march in Churchandpur.

Over 160 people have died, thousands have been displaced, and unabated destruction has consumed Manipur since violence began on May 3.

With agency inputs